1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cold engine lockout (CELO) method for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a CELO method for a vehicle which uses an outside air temperature, an inside air temperature and a vehicle speed as inputs.
2. Description of the Related Art
The CELO is a technique that limits air flow from an air conditioning system or controls the direction of the air flow so that cold wind is not blown to a driver and/or a passenger (hereinafter collectively referred to as “passenger”) when cooling water of an engine is not sufficiently warmed at the time of startup of a vehicle in the winter.
The CELO is carried out under a specific CELO condition in which an automatic air conditioning mode is set. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1, the temperature of cooling water fed into a heater core is measured using a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) water temperature sensor in order to determine whether or not the CELO is likely to run.
For example, the CELO may be carried out under specific conditions, such as an outside air temperature of 15° C. or less and a cooling water temperature of 45° C. or less. Then, a blower operates in a low mode and a defrost mode is carried out in order to prevent cold wind from blowing toward the feet of a passenger. For an example of the CELO, Korean Patent Application No. 2005-0111016 (Nov. 24, 2005) can be referred to.
However, the above conventional CELO technique requires that a cooling water temperature sensor be added, which in turn increases the cost. Furthermore, the CELO cannot be carried out when the sensor is defective or broken.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art.